The defense argued that Hall's blood, taken while he was at Memorial Hospital in Savannah, was obtained without consent in violation of state law. The defense also argued that the warrant used to seize the blood sample was not based on probable cause.

And the defense said since the blood sample is no longer available for independent testing, it should be excluded because the state can't show that it was properly drawn, handled and stored.

Turner said in a two-page ruling on Feb. 4 that law enforcement did have probable cause to obtain a search warrant: the defendant was driving fast when the wreck occurred, killing one person and injuring several others; and officers found a beer can, rolling papers and what appeared to be marijuana in the defendant's vehicle.

The judge said blood evidence obtained by a search warrant is admissible. "As for the manner and method upon which the blood was tested by the GBI Crime Lab, the defendant's argument does not go toward admissibility, rather it is an issue of credibility for the jury," he wrote.

Hall faces 14 charges stemming from the wreck on Midland Road at Courthouse Road that killed Joshua Stafford, 18, on April 18, 2011. The charges include homicide by vehicle, serious injury by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol less safe, driving under the influence of alcohol under 21, speeding 95 mph in a 55 mph zone, reckless driving, following too closely and weaving over roadway.

Stafford was a passenger in a 2000 black Honda Civic coupe being driven by Hall north on Midland Road. The Honda crossed into the path of a white 2006 Acura.

Hall, 21, has been in the Effingham County jail for a year. His bond was revoked in February 2013 by Chief Superior Court Judge William E. Woodrum Jr., after Hall was arrested on a charge of possession of a drug-related object in Springfield.

Woodrum later recused himself in the case, "to avoid the appearance of prejudice of bias," without further explanation. The trial has been delayed while Judge Turner has re-heard motions that Woodrum had already heard in the case.